Random Pretty Accurate Movies About Historical Illnesses (13 items)

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  (#1) Moulin Rouge!

  • Nicole Kidman, Ozzy Osbourne, Kylie Minogue, Ewan McGregor, Jim Broadbent, John Leguizamo, David Wenham, Richard Roxburgh, Deobia Oparei, Caroline O'Connor, Natalie Mendoza, Kerry Walker, Garry McDonald, Jacek Koman, Linal Haft, Matthew Whittet

  Moulin Rouge! (2001), starring Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor, is a musical film depicting a love affair between a poet and a singer at Paris’s Moulin Rouge theater.

  Illness: Tuberculosis (AKA TB or consumption)

  How it is portrayed: In the early 19th century, during a time in which Paris's Moulin Rouge theater was at the height of its popularity, the spread of tuberculosis was particularly prevalent. As a disease that thrives in highly populated areas lacking access to adequate hygiene, it can be transmitted easily to other people - and through something as simple as a sneeze. The disease targets various parts of the body, but primarily the lungs, causing bleeding. The cough that Kidman's character develops over the course of the movie is an accurate portrayal of the symptoms; that McGregor's character is asymptomatic accurately reflects the fact that the disease did not always cause symptoms or loss of life for those who contracted it. It was a matter of individual immunities.
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  (#8) Breathe

  • Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hollander, Ed Speleers, Dean-Charles Chapman

  Breathe (2017), based on the experiences of one of its producer's parents, dramatizes the life of Robin Cavendish as he and his family adapt to the reality of his polio diagnosis at the age of 28.

  Illness: Polio

  How it is portrayed: The film took more than seven years to write due to busy schedules and detailed feedback loops between producer Jon Cavendish and writer William Nicholson. As a result, the finished product achieved a high level of accuracy not only in its depiction of how the Cavendish family impacted the social and political perception of polio in the 1950s (particularly with their invention of a wheelchair with a built-in respirator), but in the pessimism and isolation often encountered by those with polio and other disabilities of the era.
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  (#2) The Favourite

  • Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult, Joe Alwyn, Mark Gatiss

  The Favourite (2018), starring Olivia Colman and Emma Stone, is a story set in 18th-century England in which two women compete for the favor of Queen Anne. 

  Illness: Gout

  How it is portrayed: Gout, also referred to as "the disease of kings," is an arthritis-like inflammatory disease that impairs the joints caused by consuming foods high in fat. A poor diet and obesity can lead to the buildup of uric acid in the body, resulting in excruciating pain in the limbs. As portrayed in the movie, the queen was known to have suffered from this disease for much of her life, in addition to other ailments. Both the symptoms of the disease and its appearance on Anne's body in the film appear to be accurate, as were the treatments used, including the herbs gathered by Stone’s character in an effort to ease the queen's pain.
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  (#9) The Painted Veil

  • Naomi Watts, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Diana Rigg, Sally Hawkins, Toby Jones, Anthony Wong, Zoe Telford, Alan David, Yu Xia, Juliet Howland, Gesang Meiduo, Cheng Shihan, Marie-Laure Descoureaux, Catherine An

  The Painted Veil (2006), based on the 1925 novel by W. Somerset Maugham, follows a recently wed couple, Walter and Kitty, who travel to Shanghai, where Walter works studying infectious diseases, specifically a cholera outbreak.

  Illness: Cholera

  How it is portrayed: Cholera, a highly contagious disease spread largely through tainted water sources causing severe dehydration and sometimes loss of life, is a plot-driving force in the film. The film has been lauded for the way it portrays the effects of the disease as it ravages a rural Chinese town, with "harrowing scenes of how cholera affects its victims and the depressing effect on the rest of the community." Additionally, it accurately portrays the common cure for the spread of the disease, which is the identification and isolation of the compromised water source.
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  (#5) Little Women

  • Saoirse Ronan, Laura Dern, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, Timothée Chalamet, James Norton, Louis Garrel, Meryl Streep

  Greta Gerwig's Little Women (2019) is based on Louisa May Alcott's oft-adapted 1868 novel of the same name. The film tells the story of four sisters living in Massachusetts during the American Civil War era.

  Illness: Scarlet fever

  How it is portrayed: In the film, one of the four sisters, Beth, contracts scarlet fever when coming to the aid of a neighboring family whose child had the disease. The disease is highly contagious and results in a high fever accompanied by a skin rash and severe sore throat. Thanks to the quick care administered by her sisters, Beth recovers from her illness, but her immune system is jeopardized. As is often the case for those who manage to recover from scarlet fever, Beth's weakened immune system leaves her susceptible to other complications, which leads inexorably to her passing. Though scarlet fever is now treatable, at the time the film takes place, the mortality rate was particularly high.
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  (#4) My Left Foot

  • Daniel Day-Lewis, Fiona Shaw, Brenda Fricker, Cyril Cusack, Ray McAnally, Kirsten Sheridan, Adrian Dunbar, Hugh O'Conor, Tom Hickey, Britta Smith, Ruth McCabe, Jer O'Leary, Eileen Colgan, Derry Power, Naomi Sheridan, Pat Laffan, Martin Dunne, Phelim Drew, Eanna MacLiam, Julie Hale, Darren McHugh, Owen Sharpe, Declan Croghan, Marie Conmee, Tess Sheridan, Alison Whelan, Conor Lambert, Deborah Pierce, Jean Doyle, Barry Lord, Lisa Jane Rowland, Lucy Vigne Welsh, Simon Kelly, Patricia Higgins, Dean Clifford, Colm Rowland, Charlie Roberts, Emily Hodge Barker, Eoghan O'Sullivan, Margaret Lyons, Owen Sullivan, Sean Rowland, Eileen Kohlmann, Wayne Kearney, Barry Keane, Lesley Ann Long, Jacinta Whyte, Mil Fleming, Denis O'Leary, John Mark Knight, Audrey Diffley, Daniel Reardon, Cathy Corcoran, Oba Seagrave, Hilery O'Donovan, Rita Lowe, Albert Kavanagh, Joe Swan, Dawn Kursinczy, Gerard Hourigan, Jenny Bryne, Linda Walker, Caromy Corcoran, Sarah Cronin, Keith O'Conor, Kerry Ellen Lawlor, Fiacra Sheridan, Aisling Murnane, Don King

  My Left Foot (1989) is based on the life of Irish artist and writer Christy Brown, who was born in 1932 with cerebral palsy, resulting in an inability to use all but one of his limbs: his left foot.

  Illness: Cerebral palsy

  How it is portrayed: The film does a good job portraying the physical and social limitations experienced by those with physical disabilities during the 1940s and 1950s, particularly in Dublin. The film also accurately reflects the experience specific to Brown and his family, notably the discovery of his ability to use his left foot to communicate. It also shows how physical and occupational therapy can be used to help individuals with cerebral palsy successfully develop their motor and speech skills.

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